Washington:

An Indian-origin man accused of killing his wife has testified in a court in Virginia, United States, that he dismembered her body after finding her dead. Naresh Bhatt told the court that his wife, Mamta Kafle Bhatt, died by suicide, claiming he found her unconscious and surrounded by vomit beside their bed after she had apparently consumed pills and a highly poisonous insecticide.

Bhatt is charged with murder, defiling and concealing a body in connection with the 2024 disappearance and presumptive murder of his 28-year-old wife, last seen during a video call on July 29, 2024. He pleaded not guilty to the charges, saying he performed CPR and life-saving measures on her before using a saw to cut up her body. Bhatt even claimed he considered taking his own life afterwards, according to a WUSA (Channel 9) report.

When asked why he didn't call 911 when he found his wife unconscious, Bhatt said, "I don't know why I did not. I tried to call. I was really scared...something took over me. I was really, really panicked."

The Testimony

The bombshell claim comes five weeks into his trial, even as his wife's body remains missing for more than two years. Mamta was first reported missing on August 5 after failing to show up for work. Bhatt initially told police he did not believe his wife was missing but then went on to file a missing persons report. He was arrested on August 22, 2024, after cops found bloodstains in the couple's bedroom and bathroom. Police also found a power saw with hair fragments during the investigation.

Now, Bhatt told the court that on the evening of July 29, 2024, he went to bed around 8 pm with their infant daughter but did not hear his wife come upstairs.

He claimed that he woke around 4 am the next day to go to the bathroom when he found Mamta lying at the foot of their bed on her back, surrounded by her own vomit that was full of pills. He claimed a packet of Celphos, a fatally poisonous insecticide, was lying next to her.

According to Bhatt's testimony, as quoted by WUSA, he tried to resuscitate her for an hour. When it was clear she was dead, he carried her to their bathroom.

When it was clear she was dead, he said he decided to hide the body and then kill himself. Bhatt claimed his first thought was to throw his wife's body into the Potomac River, but then he went to Home Depot "to find anything to hide a body".

He claimed he was prepared to hang himself, but did not follow through. "I get the wire cable, all those stuff, and then I did not do that," Naresh Bhatt said.

Bhatt said he had decided to put Mamata's whole body in the trash, but it didn't fit, so he cut it using a saw. "Trying to lower her body apart... separate the legs from the body," he said on the stand, claiming he wasn't able to fully dismember her body.

"Mentally and physically I was powerless...I was unable to do that," Bhatt said when asked why he stopped.

According to Bhatt, the dismemberment attempt happened in the family's bathroom using a saw. He also admitted to putting Mamta's body in multiple trash bags and throwing it in the trash so it would not be found.

Of the three charges Bhatt is facing, first-degree murder is the most severe and carries a life sentence. But the other two charges, of concealing a dead body and defiling a dead body, only carry a maximum sentence of up to five years in prison. But by confessing, Bhatt seeks to reduce his death sentence.